Oliver Larsen Peterson Diary, 1911 - Vol. 6, November-December

Diary of Oliver Larsen Peterson, covering November through December of 1911. Oliver Larsen Peterson was born in Logan, Utah in 1879 to Mary and Peter Peterson. Oliver, or O. L. as he was known, and his twin brother Edward were the first two of seven children. Shortly after birth of the twins, the family moved from Logan to their dry farm in Petersboro, Utah. Established by their father between 1875 and 1878, this was a large dry farm and cattle ranch located on the west side of Cache Valley directly north of Mendon, Utah. Here O. L., an astute observer as his diaries attest, spent his life as a rancher and farmer. On October 2, 1913 O. L. married Navieve Haws of Logan and they later had eight children. O. L. Peterson died April 7, 1955. O. L. kept a daily diary from 1895-1951. Due to Peterson's discerning eye for detail, his journal entries are voluminous. The diaries comprehensively describe the changes in a turn-of-the-century dry farming operation in Cache Valley. Peterson not only thoroughly described the daily farm routine, but also the seasonal occurrences of plowing, planting, harvesting, and winter livestock care. He concluded each year's entries with an inventory of equipment, livestock, and the amount of feed stored for winter. For example, in the 1903 volume (Box 1, Folder 10) he listed all of the farm machinery along with purchase dates and costs. The same volume also inventories the livestock, going as far as stating the names and weights of the horses. Box 1 Folder 1 contains a ‘daybook', which spans the period of 1895 to 1915 and presents an overview of Peterson's thoughts and labor. In addition to describing farm operations, Peterson mentioned important social and political events, but without any comment about his feelings toward those events. He recorded weather conditions, natural occurrences such as earthquakes, and local flora and fauna. As well, he described the physical geography of the Petersboro-Benson area both before and after the building of the Cutler Dam, noting the dam's effects on area drainage.